Todd Stimson could face more than 10 years in prison

A 42-year-old man was arrested in a dramatic raid on the home where he says he runs a medical marijuana research operation, and Friday, supporters rallied at his court hearing.

Todd Stimson said he has been openly running Blue Ridge Medical Cannabis Research Corp. out of his home in Fletcher for two years. He says during that time, he received privilege licenses for the art of healing through the Department of Revenue three times and he has also purchased required tax stamps, so the state government has been acquiring revenue from his business.

Stimson said, "It's an issue with the state because they say it's illegal. But it's unconstitutional, how they can say you have to have a tax stamp attached to your packages or your plants while you're growing them. So that's where there's a slippery slope on that -- how they can support you on one end and tell you no on the other end, when the secretary of state and the Department of Revenue both were giving me support and knew exactly what I was doing. But the local authorities even knew what I was doing since 2011, so I haven't been hiding anything. Everything's been open and honest from the very beginning."

The North Carolina webpage that addresses the "unauthorized substances tax" says, "Stamps must be permanently affixed to the unauthorized substance. Once the tax due on an unauthorized substance has been paid and the stamps affixed, no additional tax is due even though the unauthorized substance may be handled or possessed by other individuals in the future." But the webpage also says, "Purchasing stamps only fulfills your civil unauthorized substance tax obligation. You will still be in violation of the criminal statues of North Carolina for possessing the drugs."

Stimson says documentation he has makes his marijuana research legal, but Fletcher police have not seen it that way. Stimson said that on July 11, several dozen officers from the Fletcher Police Department and SWAT team members raided his home with guns drawn. He said his daughters, 14 and 16, were in the home with two friends, and were crying and screaming when SWAT officers forced their way into the home.

Stimson said, "With me being open and honest from the very beginning, all it would have took was a phone call from them saying that I need to come in."

"They had a rifle on my youngest daughter. Told her to get off the phone with her grandmother. They put her hands on top of her head, when you can tell that she's a teenager and a child. I just don't understand why they came in the way they did, with army fatigues and everything. It's very emotional, I'm sorry, whenever I have to talk about that part."

About 20 people were at the hearing on Friday to support Stimson, including his girlfriend of 18 years, who did not want her last name used. After the hearing Friday, News 4 talked to Kerry about the arrest and the raid.

She said Stimson found out in court on Friday that his case was taken off the calendar, and moved to Superior Court.

"Nobody bothered to inform us of that," Kerry said.

Immediately after learning that the case was sent to the Superior Court, Stimson was told two more counts of drug trafficking were added to the list of charges Stimson faces, according to Kerry.

Each count carries a $1,000 bond. She had to pay $300 for each count to get Stimson released on Friday, Kerry told News 4.

Kerry said she believes the Fletcher police chief is behind the arrests.

She refuted the police statement that they say they found 11 lbs. of marijuana in the raid.

"They weren't even mature plants" she said. "There's no way they weighed that much."

She said she was standing in the driveway the home she shares with Stimson with her mother during the raid on their home. She says she heard one of the SWAT members answer his phone and tell the person on the other end that he was taking part in a training exercise.

District Attorney Greg Newman is prosecuting this case. Kerry complained that he is the Sixth Henderson District Attorney in the last 6 months, which is adding to the complexity of this case.

Stimson said he hopes his arrest will lead to more people being educated about what's going on the system.

"I just want support (from people) and for them to become more educated on cannabis" he said. "There's so many benefits from the patient aspect, to even helping the state, the county and the local authorities. So everybody's benefiting out of it. Nobody's getting hurt or anything like that."

COURT LATER THIS MONTH. A BUSINESS OWNER WAS ARRESTED AND HIS MEDICAL MARIJUANA BUSINESS RAIDED IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. THIS MORNING.. SUPPORTERS FOR 42 YEAR OLD TODD STIMSON RALLIED AT HIS COURT HEARING. STIMSON SAID HE HAS BEEN OPENLY RUNNING BLUE RIDGE MEDICAL CANNABIS RESEARCH CORP. OUT OF HIS HOME IN FLETCHER FOR TWO YEARS. HE SAYS DURING THAT TIME, HE RECEIVED PRIVILEGE LICENSES FOR THE ART OF HEALING THROUGH THE DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE THREE TIMES. HE SAYS HE ALSO PURCHASED REQUIRED TAX STAMPS, SO THE STATE GOVERNMENT HAS BEEN ACQUIRING REVENUE FROM HIS BUSINESS. BUT ON JULY 11... STIMSON SAYS SWAT TEAM MEMBERS RAIDED HIS HOME WITH GUNS DRAWN. WHILE HIS TWO TEENAGE DAUGHTERS WERE HOME. "This part is very emotional, anytime I have to explain it." "all it would have took was a phone call from them saying that I need to come in." STIMSON'S PROBABLE CAUSE HEARING WAS TAKEN OFF THE CALENDAR TODAY AND HIS CASE MOVED TO SUPERIOR COURT. HIS NEXT COURT DATE IS AUGUST 26. [A14]FLETCHER MARIJUANA OWNER-SVO

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